Welcome to the Nihongo Lesson feature. We strive to give you useful manga-based Japanese language tips and maybe even a glimpse into the translation process. This week’s lesson is all about animals, and in celebration of Toriko adding Air to his Full-Course Meal, we’ll talk about the animal companions in Toriko.

UMA (うま)

UMA is “horse.” Toriko just fought a Nightmare of a horse. The kanji of the Nightmare’s name (馬王) mean “horse king,” but are read as BA-OU, a play on words with MA-OU (“demon king”). Hence, “Nightmare”! Zebra, who doesn’t have an animal companion, borrows a Daruma Horse in the battle against the Four-Beasts.

OOKAMI (おおかみ)

OOKAMI is “wolf.” Toriko’s pet is Terry Cloth, a Battle Wolf. Terry’s descended from the great Battle Wolves of the past, just like the other Four Kings’ animals are offspring of other Gourmet World rulers. Japan actually had two native wolf species, but much like the Battle Wolf, they are extinct.

KARASU (からす)

KARASU is “crow.” Coco’s pet is a giant Emperor Crow that he can ride. Crows in Japan are big and scary, but not this big! Crow references are fairly common in manga, so keep your beady eyes peeled.

HEBI (へび)

Watch out, it’s a HEBI (snake)! You’d think it would be hard to miss Quinn, Sunny’s Mother Snake, considering some were big enough to encircle the earth, but she’s pretty sneaky. Kind of like another HEBI-inspired character (we’re looking at you, Orochimaru)!

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